Bad Medicine
by Wendymypooh
Summary: Buck Cross learns that love isn't what people make it out to be when Kathleen Devlin arrives in town and ultimately breaks his heart.


Bad Medicine

Your love is like bad medicine

"I'm sorry, Buck. I can't leave him."

Kathleen Devlin's softly spoken words echoed through Buck Cross's anguished mind as he lay upon his bunk in the darkened bunkhouse. His slumbering fellow Pony Express riders were oblivious to the torment he was in. He never fell in love so hard and fast before, or lost it so soon right after he did.

It was a week ago today since he first laid eyes on the blond haired beauty, when Sweetwater hosted its annual Founder's Day celebration. He and the others lined up for the horse race they were all too eager to participate in when he spotted Kathleen. She was sitting in a marked off section of seats with what presumably was her father along with the other town leaders in front of the saloon

His breath left him as he caught sight of her. She was dressed in a beautiful pink and cream dress that accentuated her slender curves, and highlighted the healthy glow of her exquisite features. Her blonde curls were arranged in a golden halo and were topped off by a perky hat made up of the same materials as her dress.

Their eyes met and held across the short distance that separated them for a moment, and then she had smiled at him. He swore her smile could light up even the darkest of skies with its beauty. It took quite an effort on his part to draw his attention away from her and to William Tompkins, who had been delegated to explain the rules of the race. When Tompkins announced that Kathleen would present the winner of the race with a twenty-dollar gold piece and a silver trophy cup, Buck decided immediately he was going to win the race.

He won it all right, much to chagrin of the other participants. His fellow riders all good-naturedly cheered him on as he swung off the back of his mount and started toward the little stage where he would receive his winnings. His heart did a somersault as he reached the stage and walked up the steps to where Kathleen stood awaiting his arrival.

Kathleen was even more beautiful up close, than she was at a distance. Her blue eyes gazed into his own with such intensity, that Buck felt the impact clear to his soul. Her beauty mesmerized him as she handed him the gold coin and trophy cup. He was not the only one surprised by Kathleen's actions when the young woman leaned forward and kissed him on one cheek, and then the other.

Later that same day, when he and the other riders prepared to leave with Teaspoon Hunter and Emma Shannon, Kathleen approached him. With a signal from Teaspoon they would wait for him, Buck stepped away with Kathleen so they could talk in private. It was then that Kathleen told him how much she enjoyed his riding abilities, and asked him if he would be willing to give her private riding lessons. Buck had readily agreed, and they set the first one for the following afternoon.

Buck soon learned Kathleen was a fine equestrian and did not need any riding lessons at all. She assured him she really wanted to get to know him, but did not know how to go about doing so without looking too forward. Her reason for her small deception seemed reasonable one to him. Since he hoped for a valid excuse to get to know her better, Buck forgave her duplicity.

He wished he knew then lying was something that came naturally to Kathleen. She did it with an ease that came only with practice, but he had been blinded by his strong attraction to her that quickly turned into love. From that first day on, they spent as much time together as his Pony Express responsibilities allowed him too. He even suffered through the humiliation and degradation of being tarred and feathered by a couple of Jack Devlin's henchmen for her.

They warned him to stay away from Kathleen, especially a stuck up fellow named Rance Ellis, but Buck was not one to give up on something he thought was worth fighting for. He soon learned what a fool he had been for believing anything that Kathleen said to him. Only a few short hours earlier Kathleen had pleaded with him to take her away from Sweetwater.

There was only a moment's hesitation on his part at the thought of leaving Sweetwater without saying goodbye to Ike and the others, before he had willingly agreed to do so. Rance Ellis and the other men who worked for Kathleen's father had ambushed them before they could get too far from town. Buck was prepared to fight to the death to keep Kathleen with him, but she had suddenly turned on him and told him he was a fool and ran to Rance. Surprise and pain flooded through Buck as Devlin's men prepared to kill him. When his fellow riders showed up and saved him, Buck had never been so grateful to see anyone in his life.

While the other riders kept the men at bay, Buck quickly mounted his horse and raced after Rance and Kathleen who were headed back to the Devlin's ranch. Buck arrived at the homestead just in time to keep Rance from killing Jack Devlin. As her father lay bleeding in her arms, Kathleen had confessed that her time spent with Buck had all been a ruse to get him to fire Rance, so it would only be the two of them.

Buck's heart broke in two as he realized he had only been a pawn in her game. He yanked the chain holding the gold cross that she gave him to wear on the first day from around his neck, tossed it onto the floor and left. He knew he was not the first man to have been poisoned by the love of a woman who was only out to get what she wanted, regardless of whom she hurt, but that knowledge did not take away the heartache he felt.

Kathleen's love was like bad medicine to him. It was a poisonous, alluring elixir, as whiskey was to his fellow Kiowa's. He realized he was very fortunate to have come away from the relationship unscathed. He did not like to think how close he had come to losing everything he held dear to him, including his life, due to her diseased love. He was glad he had learned of her treacherous ways before all was lost. It would take some time, but Buck knew he would succeed in purging himself of Kathleen's memory, and be able to love again.


End file.
